Electrocatalytic Activity of Palladium Nanocatalysts Supported on Carbon Nanoparticles in Formic Acid Oxidation

Authors

Jie Huang, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States;State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China;
Zhiyou Zhou, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States;
Yang Song, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States;
Xiongwu Kang, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States;
Ke Liu, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States;
Wancheng Zhou, State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China;
Shaowei Chen, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, United States;Follow

Corresponding Author

Shaowei Chen(shaowei@ucsc.edu)

Abstract

Palladium nanostructures were deposited onto carbon nanoparticle surface by a chemical reduction method. Transmission electron microscopic studies showed that whereas the resulting metal-carbon (Pd-CNP) nanocomposites exhibited a diameter of 20 to 30 nm, the metal components actually showed a cauliflower-like surface morphology that consisted of numerous smaller Pd nanoparticles (3 to 8 nm). Electrochemical studies showed that the effective surface area of the Pd-CNP nanoparticles was about 40% less than that of Pd black, possibly because the Pd nanoparticles were coated with a layer of carbon nanoparticles; yet, the Pd-CNP nanocomposites exhibited marked enhancement of the electrocatalytic activity in formic acid oxidation, as compared to that of Pd black. In fact, the mass- and surface-specific activities of the former were about three times higher than those of the latter. This improvement was likely a result of the enhanced accessibility of the Pd catalyst surface and the formation of abundant active sites of Pd on the carbon nanoparticle surface due to the hierarchical structure of the metal nanocatalysts.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

palladium nanostructure, carbon nanoparticles, formic acid oxidation, fuel cell

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.61558/2993-074X.2619

Publication Date

2012-12-28

Online Available Date

2012-02-13

Revised Date

2012-02-01

Received Date

2012-01-20

Recommended Citation

Jie Huang, Zhiyou Zhou, Yang Song, Xiongwu Kang, Ke Liu, Wancheng Zhou, Shaowei Chen. Electrocatalytic Activity of Palladium Nanocatalysts Supported on Carbon Nanoparticles in Formic Acid Oxidation[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2012 , 18(6): Article 3.
DOI: 10.61558/2993-074X.2619
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol18/iss6/3